Praying with Preschoolers

Prayers like “Lord, bless this food, for Jesus’ sake, amen” are great for getting preschoolers in the habit of praying regularly. But as your child grows, her prayer vocabulary should grow too. Here are some creative ways to make prayer a part of your preschooler’s life:

Prayer jar: One mom created a prayer jar for her preschool daughter to use. Here’s how. First, simply write prayer topics on slips of paper. (Be specific and concrete: instead of “Bless all the sick people” write “Please help Grandma’s hip to heal.”) If your child is old enough to help brainstorm the prayer topics, work on it together. Put the slips of paper in a jar with a mouth wide enough to get your hand inside. When it’s time to pray, ask your child to choose one or more slips from the jar, and pray for those items together.

Simple refrains: To involve the whole family, adults and older children can introduce prayer topics (“Lord, please be with the people in Somalia who don’t have enough food to eat”) and young kids can respond with a refrain like “Thank you, Lord, for hearing our prayer.”

Prayer circle: Sit on the floor or around a table. Hold hands, and have each person at the table say one thing he or she is thankful for. End with a simple song of thanks your whole family can sing.